


weekend at the coomer's

by PurpleCatGhost



Series: HLVRAI Writetober 2020 [4]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: (That's Benrey but he's okay now), Canon-Typical Violence, Dad Bubby, Dad Coomer, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Game(s), Scars, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26924836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleCatGhost/pseuds/PurpleCatGhost
Summary: Benrey shows up nearly three months after the game ended. He finds himself at Bubby and Coomer's apartment and doesn't expect a warm welcome.But he gets one anyways.
Relationships: Benrey & Bubby (Half-Life), Benrey & Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Series: HLVRAI Writetober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949443
Comments: 19
Kudos: 130





	weekend at the coomer's

**Author's Note:**

> Took a break and missed a few days but I'm back with Day 9: Scars

Benrey, an incomprehensible being, Xen’s last line of defense, leader of the skeletons, passport guardian, and previously dead to the world, now stands in the doorway and doesn’t meet Bubby’s eyes.

He’s still wearing his security uniform but it’s ripped to shreds. His entire right sleeve is gone, the vest has long lost its protective insides and now hangs limply on his shoulders, and his helmet is missing altogether. In its place, a mass of long, messy, black hair. 

However the most eye catching part about Benrey now is the skeletal features on the right side of his body. From what Bubby can see, the right side of his face and entire right arm now match that of a skeleton. The phrase ‘Half dead’ is almost humorously fitting for the way Benrey looks.

It takes Bubby a couple minutes of staring at Benrey to realize that he has no intention of speaking first. Bubby takes the initiative instead, arms crossing and leaning on the frame of the front door. 

“How long?”

Benrey blinks. A singular red eye finally meets Bubby’s steady gaze. Judging from the questioning look he gets, Benrey doesn’t know what Bubby’s asking. 

“How long have you been alive?” Bubby presses. He watches Benrey carefully, waiting for something to push what he’ll do next. He has several questions but the most important ones come first.

“Oh uh… Never died for good but was asleep for most of it. Didn’t wake up until… Two or three days ago? Don’t gotta watch so… Don’t know for sure.” Benrey speaks slowly and half of it is mumbles. From what Bubby can tell, he’s not lying.

“What are you doing here?” Bubby asks next. Benrey shifts uncomfortably in place.

“Don’t got anywhere else to go.”

“What about Tommy?”

“I- I really don’t want to bother him.” Benrey gets quiet at the end and swallows thickly. Bubby thinks for a moment but only a moment. 

“When’s the last time you ate?” Benrey’s one good eye squints in confusion. “I’m not a _great_ cook but it’s edible. I was gonna cook breakfast anyways.”

Bubby turns and begins to walk towards the kitchen, leaving the door open. He stops walking upon realizing that there’s no footsteps following him. Sure enough, Benrey remains standing in the doorway, not moving a muscle. Bubby raises an eyebrow at him.

“You coming or what?”

Benrey hesitates but takes a singular step into the apartment. Bubby rolls his eyes at him. “Take your time and all but close the door behind you. I don’t need the neighbors to question the half built Death Ray in the living room.”

_That_ catches Benrey’s attention. For once, he almost looks lively when his curiosity gets the better in him and he follows Bubby further into the apartment.

They split off, going for separate areas. Bubby makes a beeline for the kitchen and instantly starts pulling out eggs, bacon, and pancake mix before reviewing the instructions on the latter. Benrey however hovers over the ‘Death Ray’ in question, sitting on the coffee table in the living room. 

“...Whaddoya need a Death Ray for?” Benrey asks, not taking his eyes off of it.

Bubby shrugs, putting the pancake mix down and breaking out the rest of the ingredients. “I’m a genius who now has no restrictions on what I can and cannot build. When I couldn’t think of ideas, I asked my fiancé and he said 'Death Ray' so that’s what I’m doing.”

Benrey’s head snaps in Bubby’s direction. Bubby tries not to make it too obvious that he's smirking to himself. Bubby laid down the bait and Benrey snatched it up. “Fiancé?”

“You haven’t heard?” Bubby held up his left hand, showing off the bright green gemstone attached to a black band. Benrey’s eyes dazzle when he sees it and Bubby can't help but feel satisfied by it. Other than his fiancé in question, everyone else had gotten a little sick of Bubby talking about their engagement all the time. Gordon and Tommy were happy for them of course but hearing the story for the tenth time that week made them set down ground rules.

Benrey on the other hand, hadn’t heard the story at all. Bubby couldn’t wait to tell it again- he had been _itching_ to.

“Happened earlier this month. Harold beat me to it. Once I’m done cooking, I’ll fill you in.”

Benrey nods and Bubby gets back to work. It takes Benrey roughly ten minutes to settle in the dining room. His arms are crossed and his head is resting on his left arm. Bubby keeps sneaking glances at his right. Sure enough, it’s pure bone. 

“Where’s Coomer?” Benrey asks at last. His voice is far softer than Bubby would like. Then again, he doesn’t exactly look himself in the first place.

“Sleeping in. He’ll be up soon.”

Benrey blinks. “Huh… Thought he was a… A ‘Early bird marries the worm’ kinda guy.”

“That’s not-” Bubby stops himself. There’s no use in correcting Benrey, most of the time he purposefully says it wrong anyways. “He’s been getting back into boxing recently. Had a big match yesterday- won of _course_ but it was a hard one. He needs his rest."

The bedroom door opens and Bubby grins. “Speak of the devil. Harold, we have a visitor.”

Bubby doesn’t miss how Benrey briefly tenses before turning around. Coomer stops after he closes the bedroom door behind him and locks eyes with Benrey. He doesn’t waver and takes a minute to process it before breaking out into a big grin.

“Hello, Benrey. Welcome back to the land of the living!”

Coomer is in front of Benrey and wrapping him in a bear hug in seconds. Bubby chuckles to himself and returns to cook for the three of them, though he internally curses when he realizes that the bacon is a bit overdone. That’s what he gets for cooking while distracted, he supposes.

Bubby glances over at the pair as he works. Coomer is holding Benrey’s skeletal hand carefully and examining it. There’s a concerned frown on his face when he looks back up at Benrey. “Ah… I see you didn’t quite get off scot-free then.”

“You could uh, say that again.”

“I see you didn’t quite get off scot-free then!” Coomer repeats, though he quickly takes a more somber tone. “Do you need medical attention, Benrey?”

Benrey scratches the back of his head. “I’m better off self healing. Body’s capable of patching it all up, I just took a big hit, y’know?”

“So- these bones showing- they’re normal then?” Benrey nods. “Fascinating… Is it just your arm and the side of your face then?”

“No, uh,” Benrey steps back and carefully lifts the side of his shirt up. Sure enough, the bones go all the way down to his waist on his right side. He doesn’t seem too eager in showing them his insides so he adjusts his shirt to cover it again as soon as Bubby and Coomer both got a good look at it.

“Does it hurt?” Coomer asks.

“Kinda. But ‘m used to it.”

This doesn’t assure Coomer. He’s quick to get painkillers from the medicine cabinet and hand them over to Benrey with a glass of orange juice to wash it down. Benrey takes them without a second word and quietly thanks him afterwards. Coomer just smiles.

“Of course! We were all quite worried you actually bit the dust!”

Benrey nods slightly. His brows furrow. “How long was I gone?”

“Two months.” Bubby answers. “More than that actually- two and a half. You certainly took your time.”

Benrey lets out a low hum. “Took a while to come back. Kinda did a real number on me.”

His words make both Bubby and Coomer freeze. Benrey picks up on it quickly and starts to correct himself. “I- I didn’t mean it like that. It’s fine, I was the bad guy anyways so like, kinda had to. No sweat.”

“I’m sorry, Benrey.”

“No, I- don’t apologize, seriously. I kinda deserved it.”

Bubby scoffs as he takes pancakes off the fryer. “So a bunch of code uses you as a puppet to be the bad guy and that’s your fault _how?”_

Benrey stops. His eyes dart between Bubby and Coomer. “...You know it’s a game?”

“We all figured it out at some point.”

“I tried to escape the game through Gordon!” Coomer says a bit too cheerfully. “Bubby tried to escape on the rocket!”

“Neither worked, obviously.” Bubby starts to set the table, setting down a plate of bacon and pancakes before going back for the eggs and extra plates. “But turns out we didn’t need to escape. As soon as the game ends, we’re kinda free to do what we want. Even if the player wants to reset the game, we’ll be untouched. There will just be another copy of us that plays the game all over again.”

“Oh…” Benrey sinks deeper into his chair. “That… Sounds really nice.”

“Truly a ‘Happily Ever After’ of our own.” Coomer nods in agreement. His eyes flicker to Benrey. “You realize none of us are mad at you for what happened, right? We all understand being controlled by the code in our own way!”

Benrey chews on his lip. “Gordon’s not mad then? Or- or Tommy? I-I was _really_ mean to him in the final battle so uh… I get if he doesn’t want to hang around me anymore.”

Coomer shakes his head. “Tommy’s been worried sick.” He tells him softly. “And Gordon has been feeling the most guilty out of everyone since he got the final blow on you. They’ll be relieved to know you’re okay.”

Benrey lets out a breath. Bubby finishes setting up the table and takes a seat at it. “We can deal with those two later, it’s too early for that now. You haven’t even eaten- or gotten _dressed.”_ Bubby eyes the ruined security uniform. “We’re burning that later.” He tells Benrey firmly. “It doesn’t even look comfortable anymore.”

“It’s not.” Benrey mumbles. His gaze settles on the plates of food in front of him. “So… Can I just dig in or..?”

Both Coomer and Bubby give the gesture to ‘Go ahead’ and Benrey wastes no time filling up his plate. Both get a good chuckle out of that before Coomer seems to remember something and brightens. 

“We should fill you in on what’s been going on while we eat! You nearly missed three months after all!” Coomer holds up his left hand to reveal a ring similar to Bubby’s but with a light blue gemstone. “Bubby and I recently got engaged!”

Bubby grins. “That was one of the first things I told him. Though I was waiting for you to tell the full story.”

Benrey glances between the two of them, stuffing his face full of food but seems to be just as interested as before. Coomer and Bubby both shift towards him, smiling brightly.

Coomer starts off the story and Benrey follows along with the same enthusiasm as before. Bubby smiles quietly to himself, not just because Coomer’s energy is just as endearing as ever but because Benrey’s starting to relax now. He doesn’t look like he’s going to bolt because someone looked at him wrong.

Now that Benrey’s back, Bubby expects the last of the wounds from the game to close up. Not quite healed but they’ll get there eventually. 

Their group is back together and Bubby finally feels the anxiety in his chest settle. He smiles to himself, eats his eggs in peace, and waits for his turn to jump in and explain his side of the story.

**Author's Note:**

> So this one actually is going to have three parts because I wanted to write a few more scenes for it so take Part One: Breakfast! As for notes,
> 
> \- I really love writing Post-Game stuff if you couldn't tell. There's just so many ways to take it that I draw a lot of inspiration from it so take yet another post game fic. In this one however, I was thinking about what would happen if Benrey decided to go to someone else instead of Gordon and decided he's going to end up at Coomer and Bubby's and they're going to go all Dad Mode on him, whether they know it or not
> 
> \- When Benrey mentions the code making him be mean to Tommy in the final battle, he's referring to the 'Let Tommy go' part but where the meaning is like Scorpy said in the Act 4 Commentary that it was meant to mean 'Let him die.' I don't usually use that bit since it was treated differently in canon buttt figured it would be interesting in this case
> 
> \- I love all the art of post-final battle Benrey having half skeleton parts so I decided to add it into this fic 
> 
> That's all for now! Thank you for reading if you got this far! As always, I love seeing Comments and I encourage and appreciate them!


End file.
